ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero
A Little Bit of Brooklyn
Headed back up to NYC for a short trip. The weather forecast for Mid- March promised to be only jacket weather. Angela’s son was coming along on this trip and we planned on hitting a Knicks game. We booked an AirBnb in Brooklyn in the Flatbush neighborhood in-between Prospect Park South and actual Prospect Park. It put us a block from the Parade Grounds as well and only a few blocks away from the Parkside subway station.For myself, since we usually stayed in the Upper East Side, I was excited about gaining a new perspective on the Big Apple.
Until this trip, all I knew of Flatbush came from a so-so low budget cult classic film from the 1970’s called the Lords of Flatbush. The movie was set in the 1950’s. The only reason I saved some memory in my head about such a movie is some trivia about Stallone and Richard Gere not getting along during the filming that resulted in Gere getting fired. Gere never appears in the finished film and to this day the actors dislike each other. Some useless knowledge I suppose but I thought it was an interesting piece of Hollywood history. Because of this odd bit of trivia and general knowledge from the film, I thought Flatbush must be a special place. Oozing history, it was originally settled during the Dutch era in 1651 under the name Midwoud (or Midwood). Today Flatbush is coming close to enjoying some of the renaissance and modernization that is going on throughout the borough of Brooklyn. Critics would call it gentrification. Although most of the growth is on the other side of Prospect Park, Flatbush is poised to make a big splash in the future. Large Victorian styled homes in Prospect Park South sat just a few blocks from where we stayed. The neighborhood is as diverse culturally as it is economically. Unfortunately, if gentrification gets its way, the area would likely lose some of the edge that makes it special and gives it it’s own personality.
Not far from where we were staying, albeit on the other side of Prospect Park, there’s Seventh Avenue and the neighborhood known as Park Slope. After unpacking, we headed there to find some authentic Brooklyn grub. The area is littered with restaurants and stores like the one we discovered called the Purity Diner. Having been established in 1929, the same year the stock market collapsed and the Great Depression began, it has a long history. The fact that it managed to survive starting up during the worst economic downturn in history and continues on all the way through to this day is in and of itself a major testament to the legacy of the diner. To me, that history is what makes it special. The diner is a survivor.
The food at Purity is standard diner food. Breakfast is served all day along with solid burgers matched with decent fries. Nothing fancy but still pretty good and more important, it feels authentic. The service, once they found out we had never been there and were from out of town, was impeccable. We actually went there twice during our trip and on our second visit we needed to surprise Angela, since it just happened to be her birthday. Some how the staff managed to find a candle and brought out some very chocolate cake on the down low when she wasn’t paying attention. The kindly insisted the desert on the house. If we lived in Brooklyn I’m pretty sure we’d make the diner a regular stop. It’s simple, affordable and the staff makes you feel welcome. At least, they did that night.
ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero
The Garden
Back in Pittsburgh, we don’t have a professional Basketball team, only college ball. Hockey, takes up the schedule at our local Arena. So at times, when we’ve gone out of town, we’ve tried to see a few games when we’re able. I had never been to Madison Square Garden but I knew I needed to go. The current version of the Garden opened up in 1968. There were three other versions in two other locations that bared the same name dating back to 1879. This version is the oldest major sporting facility in the city. It’s also the oldest hockey arena in the National Hockey League. The Rangers won the Stanley Cup there in 1994 and the Knicks won the NBA Finals in 1970 and 1973. Basketball Hall of famers Patrick Ewing and Bill Bradley (also known as former Senator and Presidential contender Bill Bradley) played there as well as NHL Hall of Famer Mark Messier.
The building itself feels like a bygone era. The biggest bands in the world have played here. Built above Penn Station, with minimum interference to the train schedule, it’s one of the most expensive sporting venues ever built. Walking in for the first time you can sense the history. 40 years ago when it was built it had the largest steel cable suspension roof in America and maybe the world. There are even two entire steel framed floors built above the steel cable suspension roof. The entire building is still an engineering marvel to this day.
The Knicks lost the game that day but we still visited one of the most important arenas in the world so it felt like a win to us.
ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero
Garment District
The Knicks loss made us hungry so not far from the Garden we found the Tick Tock Diner nestled away at the bottom end of the Garment District. The food was adequate but the place was very bright and colorful. It had a good vibe. It was what we needed at the exact time.
While sitting in the diner I discovered the Bickford’s Building, or at least one of them, right across the street. Today it houses a pizza shop. Bickford’s luncheonettes were popular from about 1922 to the early 1950’s. They were a huge part of American Culture during that time period. Frequented often by the likes of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and Woody Allen. The mood set in these often all night eateries found its way into many literary works by some of the greatest minds of the beatnik generation. Fortunately the buildings façade was exposed at the Bickford’s on 8thand 34thin 2000 or else I never would have noticed or therefore researched the history.
From the Tick Tock we went to check out B & H Photo. It’s like the Supermarket of photography stores. Founded in 1973, it’s incredibly massive. Whatever you need in photography, they’ll have it. We were able to find a decent used lens for Angela’s camera.
Just outside of B & H we were able to get an amazing shot of one of the newer NYC skyscrapers, Hudson Yards. Not only is it the 4thtallest building in NYC but it also has the highest outdoor observation deck in the western hemisphere at 1100 feet. Amazingly, it cantilevers straight out from the building. You’ll find that “thrill ride” on the 101stfloor.
ALL PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero
Down on Bleecker Street
In the West Village you can find a street that gone through many ups and downs over the years – Bleecker Street. Parts of the Street also sit in NoHo and the Bowery. Once home to such notables like John Belushi, Robert De Niro and Alicia Keys it’s managing to make a comeback. At one time it was one of the hippest 5 block streets in New York. Clubs like the CBGB (closed in 2006) and Café Wha?, where folks like Hendrix, Dylan and Springsteen started their careers once dotted the landscape. Lenny Bruce was famously arrested at Café Wha? in 1964 on obscenity charges. When Marvels Dr. Strange comics began in the mid 60’s, he lived at 177A Bleecker Street. Simon and Garfunkel wrote a song called Bleecker Street. So then something happened. It became too hip. Everyone wanted a piece of Bleecker Street. Higher end stores like Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors moved in. Over commercialization helped it lose its coolness. What made it special… was gone.
Up until 2018 the street was dotted with vacant buildings still looking for that high-end rent but no one was biting. Many owners decided to sell to recoup losses, which let new developers move in who could re-think the historic street. The changes seem to have worked out in the neighborhoods favor. A company called Brookfield Properties came in and bought up a bunch of properties. So far they’ve seemed to be able to slowly bring back that eclectic vibe it once had. It has yet to make it all the way back to the coolness, edginess of the 60’s and 70’s but it appears to hopefully be on the right track.
Bleecker Street has suffered through darker times in the past as well. Open prostitution and drug addiction chased a lot of potential customers away. So, sometimes it’s a fine line between edginess and darkness. Simon and Garfunkles song by the same name seems to capture that paradox better than I could. Written in a different era that I was too young to participate in.
Fog's rollin' in off the East River bank
Like a shroud it covers Bleecker Street
Fills the alleys where men sleep
Lies the shepherd from the sheep
Voices leaking from a sad cafe
Smiling faces try to understand
I saw a shadow touch a shadow's hand
On Bleecker Street
A poet reads his crooked rhyme
Holy, holy is his sacrament
Thirty dollars pays your rent
On Bleecker Street
I heard a church bell softly chime
In a melody sustainin'
It's a long road to Cainan
On Bleecker Street
~ Paul Simon
Today Café Wha? still provides solid music entertainment. Retail has rediscovered the street and now has a more chic feel. At some point I’ll hopefully make my way back to the West Village. I’m anxious to check in on Bleecker Street in the near future to see if its ongoing metamorphosis can bring back the soul of a neighborhood.
